“You should have seen the look on her face.”

Richard frowns over his desk. “In the picture?”

“No, you ass,” I say, but hesitate. “I mean, you should have seen that look too, it was—“

“Logan,” Richard cuts in.

“Right,” I say, gathering myself. “She was horrified. I mean, really, truly horrified. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone feeling so… exposed.”

“Can you blame her?” he asks me.

“Of course not. I’m fucking angry as hell about it.”

“You should be. Sharing a woman’s private photographs like that is the lowest of the low.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” I say, leaning back in my chair.

We’re sitting in Richard’s office again. It’s the day after we discovered the threatening emails on Everly’s account, and I’m trying to figure out what to do. Richard is the only person I know that really understands the situation I’m in, but more than that, he has certain connections.

Richard is one of the best litigators in the city, and that means people are always seeking his services. Most of the time, they’re normal people and companies looking for someone with experience help them out. But sometimes, he deals with less than savory types.

In fact, I know the mafia keeps him on retainer. I’ve seen some of his clients coming and going, and I know those aren’t normal guys packing heat under their Armani suits. He doesn’t go into detail about them, since it’s client privilege after all, but he hasn’t denied working with some of the underground before.

Richard isn’t a corrupt guy. It’s just that, when you’re a lawyer of his standing, certain people are going to want things from you. The mafia is a powerful part of this city, and when they come calling, you can’t turn them away. It’s dangerous to your health to turn them down, even if they are violent criminals. They pay him well and he does his job, but I know it weighs heavily on him. But he can’t say no, or else things could get bad.

“You know people,” I say to him. “People that can help.”

He raises an eyebrow. “You know the same people that I know, Logan.”

“That’s not entirely true.” I lean toward him, meeting his gaze. “You know people that can do things.”

He sighs. “Look, just come out and say it.”

“I need a computer expert to figure this thing out,” I say.

“I still don’t know why you’d come to me for that.”

“I don’t want someone… legal,” I say slowly.

His eyes narrow. “You’re looking for a hacker?”

“A serious one,” I say. “This isn’t some bullshit game. I know you have connections, even if you can’t talk about it. All I’m asking for is an introduction.”

He watches me for a second, and I have no clue what he’s thinking. I’ve never pushed against Richard like this before. I know his mafia connections are strictly off-limits for us, and that’s always been fine, at least until now. He’s doing so much for me, I feel bad asking for more, but I don’t know where to go.

As backwards as it may sound, I don’t trust someone on the right side of the law. Whoever did this to Everly did an awful thing, and I want to make sure they pay. I don’t want someone to tell me steps to take to ensure that Everly will be safe in the future. I want someone who will go on the attack for me, hunt this bastard down, make him pay.

Richard finally sighs. “I think I know a guy.”

“Just a number and I can do the rest.”

He shakes his head. “I’ll contact him for you, and if he’s interested, he’ll want to do everything through me. Is that okay?”

“Fine,” I say. “Whatever needs to happen.”

“Just for the record, I think this is a bad idea.”

“I know you do. But I can’t let this stand.”

“I know you can’t.” He sighs again and shakes his head. “You’re really digging in deep on this one.”

“I know. Not exactly like me, is it?”

“Just be careful, okay?” Richard looks genuinely concerned, though I don’t know why. “You seem like you’re getting too close.”

He may be right about that. I’m definitely feeling more involved than I thought I would. When I came up with this idea, I figured it was going to be a short-term thing, and I’d barely see Everly anyway. She’d be like an actress that I hired.

Instead, she’s living in my apartment and helping me raise my baby daughter. She’s quickly becoming a part of my life in exactly the way that she’s supposedly pretending to be. It’s bizarre, but it feels comfortable, like she belongs with me. And I do feel angry about this violation. I can’t let it stand.

I protect the people that I care about. Maybe I work people too hard and push them as far as I can, but I also take care of them. I pay my employees exceptionally well, and our policies are always incredibly lenient. I think of my staff and my employees like my extended family, and I treat them that way.

Which is why I’m going to pursue the person that did this to Everly. She’s my wife right now, even if it’s just some fake arrangement. I’m going to take care of her like she’s my wife for real, frankly because it makes me feel good.

I stand up and nod at Richard. “Thanks again.”

“I’ll contact you soon. Can you leave the laptop here?”

“Sure,” I say. I pull it out of my briefcase and place it on one of his side tables. “Talk to you soon.”

He waves as I leave his office, my mind occupied on my next steps.

I know I’m taking a risk by hiring a hacker, but I have to trust that Richard wouldn’t put me in touch with someone truly malicious. Not all hackers are bad people, after all. True, they break the law and explore computer systems that they’re not supposed to have access to, but that doesn’t mean they’re entirely immoral. I’m sure that there are hackers out there that would be more than happy to help me with this issue.

I get back to my office and have to force the whole hacker thing out of my mind. I have a work day ahead of me, and I can’t risk getting too caught up in distractions. But no matter how hard I try, distractions always seem to find me these days.

About a half hour after getting back to my office, my secretary buzzes my phone.

“Yes?” I say to her, wary already.

“You have a call on line one. It’s Chester Winterfield.”

I sigh to myself. “Okay, I’ll take it.”

I hit the button that answers line one.

“Chester, how are you?”

“Logan, my boy, I’m doing great.” Chester sounds like he’s in good spirits. That means he likely doesn’t know anything about the email we got the night before. Out of everyone in the world, Chester is the last person I want to find out, since he’s the whole reason we’re doing this.

“Glad to hear it. We had a lovely time at dinner the other night. Everly keeps talking about it.” A little white lie combined with flattery never hurt.

“Glad to hear that,” he says, sounding pleased. “You’re always welcome back, you know. That wife of yours… she seems sweet.”

“She is,” I say with sincerity. “She’s a great person.”

“I was thinking about what you said about her. About how she has a kid.”

I take a breath. “Were you?”

“I was. Seems like a big thing for a person to do, you know. Now, we don’t always approve of women having babies out of wedlock, it’s just not right.”

“Of course,” I say quickly. “I couldn’t agree more.”

“Good. But you marrying her and taking that baby in like it’s your own, well, that’s inspiring. It really is. I just wanted to call and tell you that.”

I grin to myself. He really bought it, or at least his wife Muffie did. That could be good. Maybe they’re getting ready to actually sign the fucking papers.

“Thanks, Chester. It’s been hard, you know, becoming a father. But I’m learning, and I love them.”

“Well, listen, the wife and I want the two of you to come to a charity event we’re hosting. Since you’re all about the charitable cases, we thought you’d like this.”

I decide to ignore the bit about being liking charity cases and all the implications that go with it.

“I’d be happy to come. Get the details over to my secretary and I’ll make sure we’re there.”

“Thanks, Logan, old boy. You’re a good man.”

“Of course. And thank you for the invitation.”

“We’ll see you soon then.” He hangs up the phone without another word.

I look at the receiver and hang it up slowly. I have to admit, I’m starting to get frustrated by Chester. He’s taking forever to sign these papers, and he keeps asking things of me, trying to get more and more from me. He’s already getting a good deal on this land, all he needs to do is sign and get paid. But no, he needs more from me. He needs me to be some fine, upstanding gentleman.

Well, I’m not a fucking gentleman. I’m a goddamn animal, that’s what I am. I want to go home and fuck my fake wife until she screams, and that’s all I can think about. Chester Winterfield is starting to annoy the hell out of me, but I still need him.

I have to suck it up and push forward for the sake of my homeless shelter, and for Everly.